Here He Is, The It Clown Of Your Nightmares

August 16, 2016

Corrina

If you read Stephen King’s It when you were way too young to be reading Stephen King’s It (hi!) then your fear of clowns/sewers has probably lasted to this very day thanks to that early imprint. You’re among those that know Smokey Robinson’s “Tears of a Clown” is a lie—at least when it comes to Pennywise. He doesn’t cry. Those tears are yours, dummy.

Anyway, for the 2017 film reboot of It, actor Bill Skarsgård has been cast to take over for Tim Curry as the terrifying creature from the storm drain. Now we’re finally getting a first head-to-toe look at him in all his clown-costumed horror.

Cute, right? Kidding. Pennywise’s frilly, updated, nightmare-inducing costume is the work of Mad Men wardrobe designer Janie Bryant (who also did costumes for Deadwood). The old rainbow outfitted incarnation has been scrapped in favour of a Victorian-meets-Elizabethan-meets-murderer look that, says Bryant, is meant to reflect the creature’s all-encompassing existence. “The costume definitely incorporates all these otherworldly past lives, if you will,” Bryant told Entertainment Weekly, who got the exclusive first look. “He is definitely a clown from a different time.”

As Bryant describes it, “There is almost a doll-like quality to the costume. The pants being short, the high waistline of the jacket, and the fit of the costume is a very important element. It gives the character a child-like quality.” All the better to lure real children with, we’d say.

The Andrés Muschietti-directed remake of It will hit theatres in September of 2017. Enjoy your clown-free existence until then.